1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrical connector, which is connected electrically to an electrical cable that transmits electrical signals between electrical equipment, more particularly to an electrical connector and a method for mounting the same on an electrical cable.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional electrical connector is shown to include an insulator body 11, a front metal housing 12, and a rear metal housing 13. The insulator body 11 has a plurality of parallel terminal pins 111 that extend therethrough, and a shoulder 112. The front metal housing 12 defines a terminal opening 121 therein, and has a rear end that is formed with an outwardly extending flange 122. The rear metal housing 13 has a front end that is formed with an outwardly extending flange 131, and a rear end that is formed with an inwardly extending flange 132. The flanges 122 and 131 abut against each other, and are formed with holes 14 for interconnecting the flanges 122 and 131 by rivets (not shown). In this way, the insulator body 11 is clamped between the front and rear metal housings 12 and 13. The insulator body 11 has a rear end, which abuts against the inwardly extending flange 132 of the rear metal housing 13. The terminal pins 111 have front ends, which are exposed within the terminal opening 121 in the front metal housing 12. The rear metal housing 13 is disposed normally within a metal shield. For example, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, in a first conventional electrical connector, the rear metal housing 13 is fixed within a front opening 151 in a unitary metal protective shield 15 by pressing a front end of the shield 15 to form an inwardly extending annular projection 155 after the rear metal housing 13 has been inserted into the shield 15. The shield 15 has a rear end opening 153, through which an electrical cable (not shown) passes for electrical connection with the terminal pins 111. When the front end of the shield 15 is pressed to form the projection 155, the shield 15 easily deforms, thereby resulting in the formation of voids between the rear metal housing 13 and the shield 15. As a result, the rear metal housing 13 cannot be connected firmly to the shield 15. Furthermore, electromagnetic interference in the first conventional electrical connector is increased.
Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, in a second conventional electrical connector, the rear metal housing 13 is fixed between an upper metal housing 16 and a lower metal housing 17, which are interconnected by virtue of engagement between inwardly pressed portions 161 of the upper metal housing 16 and rectangular grooves 171 in the lower metal housing 17. An annular welding joint(not shown) is formed between the rear metal housing 13 and the upper metal housing 16 and between the rear metal housing 13 and the lower metal housing 17 for reducing electromagnetic interference in the second conventional electrical connector, thereby resulting in waste of time when the second conventional electrical connector is mounted on an electrical cable (not shown). Furthermore, the insulator body in the rear metal housing 13 melts partially due to high temperatures resulting from the formation of the annular welding joint.
Referring to FIG. 7, in a third conventional electrical connector, the rear metal housing 13 is fixed between an upper metal housing 21 and a lower metal housing 23. Each of the upper and lower metal housings 21, 23 is formed with a hook edge 25, which is inserted into a respective one of two mounting slots 133 in the rear metal housing 13. As such, it is time-consuming to mount the third conventional electrical connector on an electrical cable (not shown) . Because voids are created unavoidably among the housings 13, 21, 23, electromagnetic interference in the third conventional electrical connector is also increased.
Referring to FIG. 8, in a fourth conventional electrical connector, the rear metal housing (not shown) is fixed between an upper metal housing 22 and a lower metal housing 24, each of which is formed with a holding edge 26 at a front end thereof for holding the front metal housing 12 thereon. The fourth conventional electrical connector suffers from the same drawbacks as the third conventional electrical connector.